The Visitor in the Night
by TheOwlishFangirl
Summary: Hazel Brennan wakes up in the middle of the night, and can't go back to sleep.


Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or its characters. I am just borrowing them for a bit.

[Author's note: This is one of my first Fanfics, so I would welcome advice or simple opinions about it. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. I am including the War Doctor as one of the regenerations. ]

She woke up with a gasp and sat up straight in her bed. She peered through the darkness around her bedroom. The shadows made weird, blurry shapes on the walls, and the normally familiar objects looked threatening.  
Hazel reached over and grabbed her glasses from the bedside table, then she picked up her smartphone. The screen lit up and blinded her, she squinted and turned the brightness down. The numbers in the corner on the screen said 2:38.  
She sighed and looked around the room once more. The shadows were just shadows and her belongings were no longer ominous. She rubbed her eyes and was wishing she was still asleep. Then she remembered the dream that was the cause of the awakening. Her whole body shuddered. Goosebumps rose on her arms. She winced at the images that came back.  
She pulled back the blankets and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Standing up she exited her room and walked down the hall to each of her family members' rooms to check on them. They were all still asleep, _I should be too_ , she thought tiredly. She closed the door to her sister's room as quietly as possible, and softly padded back to her room.  
After getting back into her bed and tugging her blanket up to her neck, she pulled her knees up to her chest and opened her phone again. No new messages from her friends Amira or Raini. _Of course not_ , she mused, _they are asleep like normal human beings._ So Hazel scrolled through her news feed for a while, trying to distract herself from the nightmare. Checking on her family had helped, but the dream still lingered in her mind. She knew that she couldn't go back to sleep after that, so she didn't try.  
Time was passing really slowly, and switching through the same three apps was getting to be a bore. She read some of her library book by the light of her bedside lamp, a story of young teens fighting against a prophecy they didn't want to be a part of. She opened her phone again...3:24... _Great,_ she mused exasperated, _46 minutes have past...this is gonna be a long night..._  
She glanced over to her bedside table in a tired daze, reaching with her arm she withdrew a metallic round object. It was a silver pocket watch and matching silver chain with engraving etched into it. Fingering the chain she felt the memories it contained, but she suddenly heard a peculiar noise and practically threw it into the drawer of the bedside table.  
Hazel listened intently, trying to figure out what she had heard. Then there it was again, a wheezing, whooshing sound. The air around her moved like a wind was inside her room. And then there was a light that faintly started to flash. It pulsed with the noise, growing brighter and a faint shape appeared as well, something rectangular materialized in front of her bed.  
She smiled, fully recognizing what it was. Or rather... _Who_ it was.

The object was a blue box, and the light on top of it stopped flashing when the noise faded. She hoped the TARDIS hadn't woken her family members up. She wondered which face the Doctor would be wearing this time.  
Hazel had met three of his previous regenerations, the first one she had met was the sad man in the black leather jacket who had run away from a choice he had hated making. Then he had found Rose and he seemed so much happier. She made him light up like nothing Hazel had seen before. They had traveled and met others along the way, Jack Harkness was one of those people. Now he was an interesting character.  
Then the Doctor regenerated, he changed into a tall thin man with brown hair that stuck up everywhere. For a time he was happy...but then he lost his Rose. He found others, but eventually lost those too. Hazel had told him that she was always there if he needed her. And then she discovered her watch, and wanted to tell him about it and what had happened, what she had remembered, but he had so much sadness and was so lonely. She knew that it would help him if he knew that he was no longer the last of Gallifrey. But now there was a prophecy, and the Master had come back. In the end of time he had regenerated again, and not come back for a while.  
A woman named River had come and told Hazel she knew the Doctor. River told her that the Doctor was traveling with the Ponds. Also that she knew the future Doctor, and what he would become. Hazel remembered all that River had told her, knowing that someday it would be important.  
Then suddenly he was back again, a new face, traveling with new people. A red haired Scottish lass, Amy, and her husband, Rory. These were the Ponds. She was happy that the Doctor wasn't alone anymore. He was younger now, or so it looked, though really he was even older than before. They had left and gone traveling and she hadn't seen him in a while.  
Much had happened since then, and he had come back from time to time. One of those times he had been very sad. Hazel tried to comfort him, but again he had lost those close to him. So he visited whenever he was lonely. Whenever the emptiness of the TARDIS was too much, they had gone on such adventures. Such amazing journeys, where after all the excitement she had come home to her normal life again.  
But... _Why is he coming in the middle of the night? Not that I'm asleep anyway I suppose._ She wondered waiting to see which face would come out of those blue doors.  
The door of the TARDIS opened and there was the young face of the Doctor's 12th regeneration, wearing a bowtie as usual. His floppy brown hair was in his eyes until he swept it away,and he was smiling.  
"Hello! Are you ready to go Hazel?" He exclaimed, putting his hands together excitedly.  
"Shhh, Doctor, be quiet!" She said in a hushed and slightly annoyed voice, glancing at her bedroom door. "What are you doing here? Its the middle of the night."  
She got out of bed crossed her arms as she walked over to the foot of her bed.  
The Doctor's face fell in realization as he looked around where the TARDIS had materialized. "Oh...oops," He wrung his hands and his eyes tilted down in shame, "Sorry about that..., I suppose I should have at least made sure it was morning."  
"Its okay, I don't mind." she smiled and yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. "Just keep it down, the rest of the house is still sleeping."  
"Should I come back..." He began to ask, then he saw the lamp was on; "What were you doing up at this hour?"  
Her eyes widened, and she averted her gaze downward and away from the Doctor. She rubbed the back of her neck absently, trying to figure out how to answer,  
"I ..couldn't sleep. So I figured I would just stay up." she admitted.  
His face took on a worried look, his head tilting just the slightest bit.  
"Was it a nightmare?"  
She shifted uncomfortably and pursed her lips. Sighing, she said reluctantly,  
"Possibly."  
The Doctor looked at her and asked,  
"Do you want to talk about it?"  
"No, not right now, it was about my family, something happened to them..." she mumbled with her brow furrowed, then brightened. "Anyway, where were you planning on going?"  
He still seemed concerned, but answered, "Well, I was investigating an odd signal coming from the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean, and I found something interesting. And ...I wondered if you would like to come with me?" he looked at her with a slight pleading demeanor, but then he threw up his hands tentatively and spoke rapidly, "But only if you want to, of course. If you would prefer to stay and try to sleep or whatever that's fine, I understand completely!"  
Hazel laughed softly, "Sure, I'd love to come. Just let me get normal clothes on first, and brush my teeth. "  
He raised his faint eyebrows and smiled warmly. "Of course, I'll just wait in the TARDIS."  
She went to her closet and grabbed some clothes, then added quickly, "Oh! Could you write a note for my parents just in case they wake up and I'm not here? There should be paper and a pen on my desk."  
"Okay, will do." the Doctor replied, stepping towards the desk.  
Hazel ducked into her bathroom, quickly changed and brushed her teeth and hair. When she emerged she was wearing a grey t-shirt and jeans, her hair was thrown into a messy ponytail. As she was putting on her blue converse and tying the shoelaces, she inquired,  
"Doctor? What exactly did you find that piqued your interest so much? And why were you in the Atlantic in the first place?"  
"Well," he said energetically, waving and gesturing with his hands as he was apt to do,"I was going scuba diving with a 9 year old Jacques Cousteau on the coast of Fortaleza in Brazil, and I found a piece of coral in the reef with an odd symbol carved on it." He scribbled wildly on a piece of paper then held it up for her to see.  
The symbol looked like an angular swirl with a circle in the center, with other more complicated symbols that looked like letters of a forgotten language. Hazel studied them with genuine curiosity  
"They look like... well... they're ancient. Older than hieroglyphics, but not nearly as old as most alien languages. What do you think it is?" She asked with one eyebrow raised.  
"I'm actually not completely sure. Surprising, I know." he said hurriedly, "But I do have one prominent theory."  
She smiled and urged him to continue, "Which is?"  
He grinned ecstatically and declared, "Atlantis."  
"Really?!" she gasped.  
The Doctor nodded vigorously.  
"Well... let's go find out!" she said.  
"That's the reason I came." he affirmed.  
They went into the TARDIS and the Doctor started to turn knobs and push buttons, calibrating where they were going. She looked at the Doctor, knowing he was enjoying this. "Allons-y!" she exclaimed.  
His eyes glinted in remembrance and as he pulled the lever, they laughed and together yelled, "Geronimo!"  
The TARDIS took off and they went on a new adventure.


End file.
